


side a: ashes (the smoky nights remix)

by puddingcatbeans



Category: Promare (2019)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Nightmares, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-07
Updated: 2019-11-07
Packaged: 2021-01-24 16:49:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 593
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21341506
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/puddingcatbeans/pseuds/puddingcatbeans
Summary: Some nights, Galo dreams of ashes.
Relationships: Lio Fotia/Galo Thymos
Comments: 5
Kudos: 154





	side a: ashes (the smoky nights remix)

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Side A: Ashes](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21340798) by [ninemelodies](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ninemelodies/pseuds/ninemelodies). 

> i said "just fuck me up dude" and max delivered; this is my response after some incoherent yelling

Some nights, Galo dreams of ashes.

It’s not unusual, considering what he does for a living---putting out fires and willingly walking into fires in order to save people from fires. Heat and smoke is what he knows best. His earliest memories are made of orange flames licking at the corners of a home he can never go back to. He doesn’t really dream about his parents anymore.

No, instead, he dreams about Lio---Lio’s ashes. 

He can still remember everything in too much detail. The clinginess of the heat, the bitter taste of smoke, the freezing terror of seeing white ash drifting away from Lio’s limp form, leaving behind nothing. Empty nothing.

In his dreams, Galo is kneeling on the ground, clumsy hands clutching at Lio, trying desperately to hold onto him, to press heat back into that small body. In his dreams, Galo is moving too slowly, too uselessly, forced to watch Lio disappearing right before his eyes. In his dreams, Kray’s laughter echoes above him and the world burns and burns and burns. In his dreams, Galo fails. In his dreams, he let Lio die.

Some nights, Galo wakes up in cold sweat, gasping and choking. He forgets that he isn’t back on that wretched ship, that he’s safe in the quiet of his bedroom, that he’s warm next to Lio under his pile of blankets. He drags in breath after stuttering breath. Claws his way out from his nightmare, hopes to gods that the fire didn’t follow him out.

Small hands press against his chest. Galo looks over and catches sight of pale hair, glinting silver in the moonlight. Galo looks over and finds Lio. He remembers. 

“Galo,” Lio says, voice sleep-soft, eyes bright in the darkness. "Hey. Look at me. Breathe.”

Galo tries. He’s still gulping in air helplessly and noisily. He untangles his limbs from under the covers to grab at Lio’s arms. He ignores the slight shivers at his grip, hands frantically patting at any bit of Lio he can touch. He searches for Lio’s fingers. Lio lets him.

Galo counts. One, two, three, four, five. Five fingers on each hand, five fingertips, solid and real and warm and alive. Not ashes. Galo counts again, drags Lio’s hands up to his face. He presses them against his wet face. He hiccups loudly. They both ignore the embarrassing sound.

“Galo,” Lio says again. “I’m here. I’m right here.”

It takes too long for Galo to catch his breath again. He can’t quite shake the fear that has taken root inside his ribcage. Instead, he loosens his grip on Lio hands and watches through blurry eyes as the other boy nudges him onto his back. Galo goes easily. Lio slides over his body, a practised move. His weight is familiar. Galo focuses on the warmth radiating between them, on the friction of Lio’s sweater against his bare skin.

Lio takes Galo’s hand and holds it against his chest. He presses the palm of his free hand against Galo’s chest, a mirror position, right above the heart. _Ba-dump ba-dump ba-dump. _Lio finds Galo’s gaze and holds it. 

“I’m right here,” he repeats. “You saved me. And I’m not going anywhere. Okay? I’m right here.”

Some nights, Galo wakes up convinced he’s suffocating on the ashes of the boy he loves. But he wakes up, and he takes a breath, then another. He wakes up to Lio in his arms, warm and real and so very alive. 

Galo wakes up, and remembers that a dream is just that. A dream.

**Author's Note:**

> READ THE OG FIC ALSO BC THERE'S GONNA BE A SIDE B AT SOME POINT


End file.
